hunting the desert sun. ******COMPLETED******

#4 Liam Knight

When I came outside with Alpha Gray to meet Gamma Benson I noticed the hunter in the car. I couldn't see her face well but i noticed her smell first. It was the most intoxicating scent I had ever smelled and my wolf was prancing in my head howling relentlessly. He was making my migraine worse. calm down you're hurting my head! He didn't stop. He was howling louder as she walked up to us. When she looked at me with her big brown eyes my mind went into shock as I finally heard what he was saying over and over again. mate!mate! She was my mate. The hunter was my mate. She was absolutely beautiful. her hair was pulled back into a braid that laid to one side. It was the most amazing color of chocolate brown I had ever seen. It was taking everything inside me to not pull her to me and claim her. How could she be my mate> How can the moon Goddess pair me with a hunter of all people. A human would be better. A hunter would get me killed or thrown out of the pack. Did she feel it too? I watched as she bowed her head to Alpha Gray and I could hear my wolf growling in my head. He wanted her for us and she was showing him all the attention we wanted. Oh Goddess what is wrong with me. He is the Alpha and she is a hunter here because of a massive problem we now find ourselves in. The death of huans and werewolves. I needed to put this aside for now and focus on the work ahead. I didn't even realize she was talking to me now I was so deep in my thoughts trying to focus on anything but her alluring scent. Alpha Gray was staring at me like I grew another arm on my head. s**t she must have asked me a question and I wasn't listening. " I'm sorry I was not focused. what did I miss?"

Alpha Gray was staring me down again. " This is Princess Cara Star. She is the hunter that was sent to investigate what we found. I'm sorry for my Beta Liam. He was the one who found all the bodies. It was quite a shock to all of us. We would like to keep this as quiet as possible. Please follow me into my office so we can breif you on what we know." she smimled at me and held out her hand to me. I coud instantly feel the electricity coursing down my hand. Her eyes went big as the sensation ran through us both. She felt it too. She felt something. She pulled her hand back quickly keeping it close to her avoiding all contact after that touch. I had always wanted this. I always wanted my mate. I couldn't accept this though. No one would accept a hunter as a pack member. She followed Alpha Gray into the pack house to his private office with me in tow her scent trailing behind me surrounding me. Damn it this was going ot be hard. I was tasked to work side by side with her. Al[ha Gray pointed to the two chairs in front of his desk motioning for the both of us to sit. I trie dmy best not to look at her. I needed to keep my composure. Usually when mates found each other they both knew it and immediately started the mating process. I couldn't give in to this impulse that was consuming me. It would cost everything. Alpha started explaining the situation to Cara. Even her name sent chillls down my spine. I could feel it doing something to my body that I had never felt before. " here are the rest of that file. It has all the evidence we took and the pictures taken. It also has the rest of what was missing in that file we gave your handler. You have to pardon the need for little information. We just weren't sure who to trust. this is huge. We didn't just find fifteen human bodies in various forms of decomposition but we also found five wolves in their human forms in another grave site in the same condition." I watched as she poured herself into the pictures of the bodies and all the evidence we had. Her mouth fell open as she saw the graves and the bodies placed together on tarps. Each one marked with the same tattoos.

" I have never seen this symbol before. any idea of what it represents? This isn't shifter." She was to the point. I could feel she wanted answers just as much as we did. " We will eventually need to bring in the human law enforecement. we need to discuss how to keep your pack safe from this and the other pack that borders your territory. This could cause a war if the humans feel they are in danger because they find out about your kind. This could become very messy very fast. I think that for now we get some rest and head there in the morning to the site of these graves. Can I take the fikes with me to study?"

Alpha Gray stared at her for a brief moment. He knew she wqas right. Hell I knew she was right. This could start a potential to drive humans to discover us and in turn could be the cause of a mass extinction of our kind. Humans didn't like what they feared. Fear was a driving factor in most wars. Illiminate the fear and illiminate the problem. "Please take it with you. Beta Liam will show oyu to your room and we shall start out first thing in the morning. say five thirty?"

I watched as she nodded her head and scooped up all the files on the desk. "May I grab the box for you Princess?" I saw the way she tried to hide her disdain for me. I felt a pang of hurt by her face.

"I ensure you I am no Princess. please show me to my room." I already screwed up with her and she had only been here a few hours. perfect. Just perfect. Why did I even care so much? I need to distance myself from her. I needed to reject her for both us. I motioned for her to follow me after grabbing the box off the Alphas desk. Looks like a chosen mate is going to have to do. I could hear my wolf snarl in repsonse. I knew he was pissed off at me and I couldn't blame him. I didn't know what else to do. There was no way I could go to the alpha and tell him I was mated to a hunter. She followed me closely. I could feel her near me and I wanted to say someething. Say anything just to hear her voice. I felt like I was fighting a war inside my head and it was killing me to battle against mysle and my wolf. I stopped in front of her room opening the door with my only free hand and walked in setting the box on a small desk. She looked at me with curiousity. I could sense she wanted to say something. "Look, " she looked around the room nervously. "I know you are my mate. I'm not sure what the moon goddess was thinking here but this can't happen. If I were to be found out that I am mated to a shifter I could lose everything. I am more than just someones breeder. Plus in my postion being mated to a shifter would be certain death for both of us. We need to reject this."

My mouth must have been opened in shock because she reached up out of nowhere and closed it for me. her fingers were soft and warm and I wanted more of it. I wanted more of everything from her. I ran my hands over my face trying to bring myself back to reality. "Damn, I guess I am not as good looking as I thought. Even my fated mate can resist me." She was unamused by my banter with her. She looked more irritated with me. "How do you even know we are mates?"

She sat down on the edge of the bed looking away to the window over looking the desert night. The stars were twinkling and bright and it was as though it was intoxicating her. " I could feel it the minute I saw yuour eyes. And there was this intoxicating aroma. I have known about fated mates since I was a teen. I have had to learn everything about the shifter world and the human world. I know a lot more than you think. I also know it can't work for a shifter and a hunter to be mated. You wouldn't fit into my world and I for sure would not fit into yours. As mates we would never be accepted." She was right. I knew she was right. But then why was rejecting her the last thing I really wanted? I reached up and cupped her cheeks feeling the sparks dance across my hand from her touch.

"I know what you are saying is true. But why do I not want to do it with every fiber of my being?" I stood up and walked towards the door leaving her sitting there with her eyes closed."How about we just wait. We put it to rest for now and work on this case together and then decide what to do later. I know we will have to reject each other but I can't do it right now. I have waited thirty two years to find you. I don't want to give it up just yet." I shut the door quietly and walked away fighting my wolf and refusing to turn around. I already knew I was not getting any sleep tonight. There was no way.